They include Jim Hytner, Group Brand and UK Banking Marketing Director of Barclays Plc, who brings the strategic communications expertise with which he helped launch Channel Five and re-launch ITV; Peter Williams, the former Chief Executive of Selfridges who played a major role in the retailer’s turnaround and strategic direction; and Janet Walker, Commercial and Finance Director of Ascot Racecourse.
Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation, who will be drawing on his experience as head of policy at Number 10; and Jonathan Kestenbaum, the former venture capitalist who was last year appointed Chief Executive of NESTA, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, complete the intake of new Council members.
Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Sainsbury said: ‘The skills and experience of those appointed today, from across the spectrum of public policy and industry, is a clear sign of the importance of design in our social and economic life.’
The new Council members will work alongside distinguished designers and design luminaries - including Paul Priestman, Richard Williams, Professor Chris Wise, Jonathan Sands and Penny Egan - to help build the Design Council’s long-term vision at a time when there is widespread political support for its practical programmes to make businesses more competitive and public services more effective.
Last year the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, backed the recommendations contained in Sir George Cox’s Review of Creativity in Business. And in his budget report last month he urged Regional Development Agencies to make more use of the Design Council’s Design for Business Programme.
David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council, said: ‘We’re delighted to make these appointments at a time when there is tremendous appetite across government for what the Design Council is doing and widespread political support for the Cox Review agenda.
‘We now need to capitalise on this for the next phase in the Design Council’s development by turning ideas into policies and good creative thinking into action. Such a powerful group of individuals joining our Council will be very helpful in driving forward this agenda.’
The Design Council is playing the lead role in putting design at the heart of the UK’s economic strategy, delivering tangible, practical programmes to roll out across the country.
Its work includes a national programme of design support for managers, a ten-year public design promotion in UK regions and projects generating new thinking on how design can be used to tackle key economic and social challenges.
For more information contact Saskia Sissons at the Design Council on 020 7420 5248 or saskia.sissons@designcouncil.org.uk
1. The Design Council is the UK’s national strategic body for design.
It aims to strengthen and support the economy and society by demonstrating and promoting the vital role of design in making businesses more competitive and public services more effective. It is funded by grant-in-aid from the Department of Trade & Industry.
2. Council sets the policy envelope within which the long term vision of the Design Council is established, it interrogates the strategy for achieving that vision and monitors our performance. It is accountable to the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, our sponsoring government departments.
3. The new appointments to the Design Council are: Geoff Mulgan, Director, Young Foundation; Jim Hytner, Group Brand and UK Banking Marketing Director, Barclays plc; Jonathan Kestenbaum, Chief Executive, NESTA; Janet Walker, Commercial and Finance Director, Ascot Racecourse; Peter Williams, former Chief Executive, Selfridges.